Israel PM: No Palestinian unity at Israel's 'expense'

Martin Rowe

The West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been politically divided since 2007, when Hamas wrested control of Gaza from rival Palestinian faction Fatah, ending a short-lived unity government established after Hamas swept 2006 legislative polls that were ultimately rejected by Fatah, Israel and the global community. For their different reasons, the PA, Israel and Egypt have all been seeking for the last several years to bring the Hamas administration in Gaza to heel and have been putting pressure of various kinds on it.

The Islamist movement Hamas has run Gaza since its violent take-over of the territory in 2007 from the PA, which is based in Ramallah in the West Bank and is dominated by the rival Fatah movement.

While previous attempts at reconciliation have failed, including a previous visit by Hamdallah in 2015, years of worldwide isolation and steadily worsening conditions in Gaza appear to have pushed Hamas toward compromise this time around. In turn, Israeli strikes on Hamas target in Gaza are commonplace.

But in an apparent reference to Hamas, Greenblatt added that any Palestinian government "must unambiguously and explicitly commit to nonviolence, recognition of the State of Israel, acceptance of previous agreements and obligations between the parties and peaceful negotiations".

Later he met with Hamas's overall leader Ismail Haniya and its Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, and is expected to chair a cabinet meeting. "This time, and in accordance with Palestinian law, we're not going to back down and we will continue to only move forward". Abbas has rejected the Hezbollah model for Gaza that was presented by Hamas in the talks that were meant to restore peace and work towards progression.

"We understand that returning official institutions to their legitimate and legal framework and ending all the impacts of division will require exhausting efforts and a lot of patience, of time and of wisdom".

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Gaza, which sits on the Mediterranean coast and is fenced in by heavily patrolled barriers on three sides bordering Israel and Egypt, has been a frequent battleground over the past decade, during which Hamas has fought three wars with Israel and thousands of Gazans have been killed.

Hamas reiterated on Tuesday that it won't surrender its weapons, and still expects Abbas's cuts to social services in Gaza to be restored in the short term.

Despite multiple attempts over the years aimed at reconciling the groups, the Palestinian leadership has repeatedly failed to follow through on promises of reconciliation and holding of long-overdue elections, as both movements have frequently blamed each other for numerous political failures.

Officials on both sides said the more hard issues will be addressed at the upcoming talks in Cairo.

During a TV interview with the Egyptian journalist Amro Adeeb, who arrived in Gaza yesterday, Haniyeh said that any Palestinian has the right to bear arms and resist Israel.

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